New Orleans Wedding Venues We Know Well
There are a lot of New Orleans wedding venue lists written by people who have never worked a wedding at any of them.
This isn't that.
These are places I've actually photographed. Some I've worked once, some enough times that I don't really have to think about where I'm going anymore.
I'm less interested in telling y'all which building is the prettiest. What matters on an actual wedding day is how the place moves, where everybody ends up, what happens when it rains, and whether you can make good photographs without disappearing from your own wedding for an hour.
So, no ranking. Just ten New Orleans wedding venues I know and what I'd actually tell a couple considering them.
Wedding Venues in the New Orleans Area
Race & Religious
Race + Religious is one of those places where the wedding can actually stay together.
Getting ready, ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, dancing and all the weird little moments between them can happen without constantly packing everybody into cars. That's a big deal if you want the day to feel like a wedding instead of a production schedule.
I've photographed this place enough that I know it extremely well. The courtyards, balconies, rooms and little pockets of light give you plenty to work with without dragging the couple away from everybody else.
It also handles a very New Orleans kind of wedding well. People everywhere, music moving through the property, a second line, somebody inevitably standing somewhere they weren't supposed to be. That's usually where the good stuff is.
Planning a wedding here? Read our full Race + Religious wedding guide.
2. Felicity church
Felicity Church gives a ceremony some room to breathe.
It's a big, dramatic space, but it still works when you let the people inside it be the important part. I've photographed weddings here enough that I know what the room does and don't need to spend the ceremony figuring it out.
One thing to think about is what happens afterward. Felicity is often one part of a larger wedding day rather than the entire thing, so transportation and the transition to cocktail hour or reception matter.
I've photographed the Felicity Church ceremony paired with an Il Mercato reception, and that combination works particularly well when you want two very different environments in the same wedding day.
3. Latrobe’s on royal
Latrobe's is one of my home-field venues.
I've worked here a lot, know the team, and it's one of those places where I can concentrate on what's happening instead of figuring out the building.
The architecture is obviously part of why people book it, but the better part for me is how much variety you can get without disappearing into the French Quarter for a giant portrait session. You already have Royal Street outside. You already have a room with character inside. We can make a few strong portraits and get you back to your people.
And because you're in the Quarter, timeline planning matters. Traffic, second lines, hotel locations and how everybody is getting from one place to another can matter more than another fifteen minutes of photos.
4. Marigny Opera House
Marigny Opera House doesn't need much help looking like itself.
The building already has a ton of personality, which means I don't feel any need to overwork portraits or manufacture something that isn't there.
I've photographed weddings here enough to know the space, and it works best when the wedding is allowed to fill it. People moving through the room, light changing, a ceremony becoming a reception. That's more interesting to me than twenty empty-room photographs before anybody walks in.
If you're choosing it because you want something that feels unmistakably New Orleans without being in the French Quarter, that's where it makes a lot of sense.
5. il mercato
Il Mercato is a really useful wedding venue because the day can change gears without feeling like everybody got moved into another building.
The courtyard and interior give you two different environments, and once the reception starts the room handles the shift from dinner into a party really well.
I've photographed it both as a reception destination and as part of a larger New Orleans wedding day. The Felicity Church to Il Mercato combination is one I've worked personally.
My priority here is the same as everywhere else. Use the courtyard, use the architecture, make the portraits we need, and then stop making the couple work for the photographs.
6. new orleans pharmacy museum
The Pharmacy Museum is small in the best possible way.
People end up close together. The courtyard gets full. Everybody can see everybody. For documentary photography, that's usually a gift.
I've photographed enough weddings and events here that I know the place extremely well. I've seen it used for ceremonies, wedding celebrations and welcome parties, including the start of a larger wedding weekend before moving somewhere else the next day.
One practical thing: summer is summer. That courtyard can get hot. Have a weather plan, have a heat plan, and then enjoy the fact that you're getting married in one of the stranger little pockets of the French Quarter.
It also puts you in a great position if the next part of the plan involves walking, a second line or another Quarter location.
7. Jack Rose / Ponchartrain hotel
The Pontchartrain is useful when you want the hotel to be part of the wedding instead of somewhere everybody leaves in the morning.
Getting ready, portraits, drinks, dinner and Hot Tin can all become pieces of the same day without running all over town.
I've photographed weddings and smaller celebrations around the property and especially like it when the plan isn't overloaded. Walk outside, use St. Charles for a few photographs, grab a drink upstairs, get back to whatever everybody actually came here to do.
It's a good fit for couples who want New Orleans around them without needing every single moment to happen in the Quarter.
8. degas house
Degas House has enough New Orleans weirdness built into it that I don't have to add any.
Getting ready happens in old rooms with tall windows and narrow hallways. People spill into the courtyard. Dinner can happen under a tent. Then suddenly a brass band is involved.
I've photographed this venue a lot, including weddings where the weather absolutely refused to cooperate.
That is worth thinking about here. Have a rain plan, then don't let the rain become the entire story of the wedding.
One of my favorite Degas House weddings ended with wet streets, umbrellas, a second line and everybody continuing like the weather hadn't been invited in the first place.
9. hotel Saint Vincent
Hotel Saint Vincent makes sense when you want the hotel itself to be part of the weekend.
Rooms, courtyard, bars and gathering spaces are already around you, which can cut down on how much movement needs to happen during the day.
I've photographed here before and the biggest advantage from my side is variety without needing to go hunt for it somewhere else.
That's usually the theme with the venues I like most. If the people are having a good time, I would rather photograph that than load everybody into a car because somebody said we need another backdrop.
10. Broussard’s + Hermann-Grima
Broussard’s and Hermann-Grima work really well together when you want a French Quarter wedding without spending the entire day bouncing all over the city.
Hermann-Grima gives you the courtyard, old New Orleans architecture, and a ceremony space that already has plenty of character. Then Broussard’s gives you a completely different energy for dinner and the reception without making the day feel disjointed.
I’ve photographed this pairing enough to know the rhythm of it. The biggest thing is keeping the transition clean. If the timeline is built well, you can get the portraits you need, move everybody where they need to go, and still let the wedding feel like a wedding instead of a logistics exercise.
It’s a really good fit for couples who want the French Quarter to be part of the day without turning the whole thing into a giant portrait tour.
Picking the venue is only half of it.
The same space can feel completely different depending on the guest count, timeline, weather, ceremony setup and what y'all actually want the day to feel like.
If you're planning a New Orleans wedding and want to know what I've seen work at one of these places, ask me. I've probably got an opinion.
And if you still need a photographer, conveniently, I do that too.